JAPANESE DRIVE

Grey River Argus, 18 February 1942, Page 5

JAPANESE DRIVE

ON BURMA COAST To Cut Off Rangoon [British Official Wireless] RUGBY, February 16. A Rangoon communique states: Our troops withdrew yesterday from the. Tuyinzaik area to more concentrated positions on the river, 40 miles north of Moulmein. The Burmese Press has criticised the army communiques, which cloak the operations in obscure language. The “Daily Express” Rangoon correspondent says: “If the Japanese capture Thaton, they will cut the railway communication between Rangoon and the -Allied troops will be driven out of Martaban. Japanese motorised units, tanks, and infantry are pouring over the marshy ricefields on the coast, in an all-out drive to capture this key railway town of Thaton. It was officially admitted in Rangoon to-night that the British lines had been broken at several points. While the American promise of reinforcements is noted in Rangoon with satisfaction, there is a tendency to point out that Washington and London have only just discovered the importance of the defence of Burma, whereas the Burmese have always suspected the Japanese were able to attack Burma, and have not made the mistake of under-estimat-ing their strength. British Retreat FROM THATON (AREA. (Rec. 7.45). RANGOON, Feb. 16. A British communique here states: Our troops have withdrawn from their positions in the Shwegun Bridge and Thaton area, and they now are occupying more concentrated positions on the line of the Bilin River. NEW ROAD TO CHUNGKING. RUGBY, Feb. 16. Speaking at a Press conference m New Delhi, Pandit Nehru said that even it the Burma Road was cut off, it would not cripple China. A new road to Chungking from India was nearing completion. India was in complete sympathy with China, • and it had always been so, even before the recent developments. “Under no circumstances,” said Pandit Nehru, “are we going 'to submit or surrender to Japanese aggression.”